A Raging Battle

Sometimes it feels as though we do nothing but battle. We wrestle, we struggle, and we fight. Ephesians 6:12 tells us this exact thing; “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒔.” Some translations use battle, fight, or wrestle.

Interestingly, this verse is not sounding an alarm; it’s not a clarion call announcing a call to arms, but a statement, a declaration that we are already in this battle. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘆.

I had a picture of an intense battleground, bombs were exploding everywhere you looked, snipers were in the trees and there were ambushes hidden around the corner. And there, walking among the flowers, was a person who looked like they were on a Sunday stroll. Stopping to pick flowers, oblivious to that which was going on around. It made me want to shout, to shake the stroller and say, “𝘊𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦! 𝘉𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭!” All I could think was, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵!”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲.

The surest way to lose a battle is to pretend it doesn’t exist. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, as Paul talks about forgiving one another, he says, “𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒔. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔.” The devil schemes, he plots, and he plans and his conspiracies are not ones for your good, they are to kill you, like a lion to devour you. (1 Peter 5:8)

I feel we must put a BUT GOD moment in here! But God has equipped us, has given us armor, has advised us of the battle plan. We are fighting a battle that we will win! The Holy Spirit was sent to us to be our guide, He helps us in our weakness and leads us in all truth. God’s Word illuminates our path, equips us for battle. Our worship to the LORD conquers even the fiercest of enemies. And prayer, oh prayer, Karl Barth put it this way; “𝘛𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.”